2008 Volvo C30 T5

Third Place: Hot Hatches

Thoroughly outgunned on this playground, the little glass-rumped cosmopolitan from the way, way north had us uttering the word "Volvo" as if for the first time. An enormously civilized and well-packaged bundle of Euro-chic efficiency, our base C30 was a delight betrayed only by its overly elastic suspension and drab interior hued in three shades of Scandinavian winter.

The lone car here lacking rear doors, this Jet sacrifices back-seat accessibility for its fascinating body shape. A low roof and a fast sloping hatch set in extra huggable hips garnered double takes for the C30 all up and down the high roads leading to our test venue in southeast Ohio. Those who don't spend a few moments absorbing the C30's mile-high taillights pouring like strawberry syrup down the corners and over the flanks need to get their curiosity in for a tuneup.

A C30 stands apart in this group for other reasons. Sporting a soft suspension and wearing all-season tires, it's no shocker that the C30 tanked in the braking, lane-change, and skidpad tests. This cabin offers only four seatbelts, the rear ones accessed by awkwardly climbing over and around the front ones. The turbo engine has an unnatural five holes, from which a stirring exhaust note was never expected and never delivered.

Some anomalous test numbers, however, tell the story of a slingshot punch from the five-cylinder engine.

Lightest at 3134 pounds, the C30 was the slowest from 0 to 60 mph at 6.3 seconds--Houston, we have wheelspin!--but the quickest from 5 to 60 at 6.5 seconds. The Volvo was also fleetest in the 30-to-50 top-gear slog. You say you want usable power more than big horsepower numbers? The C30 serves it up, no waiting. Lift your foot, and it also vanishes, no waiting. The engine shuts down abruptly when the fat boost blows off.

Tuned as an urban errand runner, the C30's Mazda 3-derived multilink legs sag under the g-forces of country-road cornering. The brake pedal also got long as a hard-driving day wore on. For better back-road acumen, go for the "Dynamic sport suspension," $575 by itself on the 1.0 (Volvo charges a one-time $300 fee with the first of any "custom build" options, including the suspension) and standard on the 2.0, which is also fitted with larger, 18-inch wheels and lower-profile tires. But be prepared to trade in the absorbent ride that makes freeway plods a relaxing, stress-free stroll in the base car.

The widest car at 70.2 inches proved roomy even for rear-seaters, who get ergonomically scalloped buckets and expansive windows to look through. The "flying buttress"--er, "flying VCR remote"--center console with its Sony-inspired knot of black buttons is a bit of hand-me-down Swedish whimsy from the S40/V50. The plain gauges, the rubbery shifter, and the listless gray plastic trim applied in vast unbroken sheets are hand-me-down items from all Volvos. None of which dissuaded anyone from declaring this happy hatchback an ideal daily driver.

C30! We just met a Volvo named C30, and suddenly that name will never be the same again.